


stars at the end of the universe

by edlington (stealingtime)



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Multi, Platonic Soulmates, Polyamory, Romantic Soulmates, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-20
Updated: 2016-09-20
Packaged: 2018-08-16 04:28:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,593
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8087122
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stealingtime/pseuds/edlington
Summary: Lance falls in love with five people throughout his life, and he counts himself lucky that they love him back.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [taketotheskies](https://archiveofourown.org/users/taketotheskies/gifts).



**i. feels so right to be here with you**

Lance Santiago had been born with one warm chocolate brown eye, the exact same color as his mother’s. Flecks of gold danced through it in the right light, warm and happy and cheerful. The other eye was cold icy blue, almost glacial, stark and pale against his dark coloring.

Doctors had always told him it was just a mutation connected to his colorblindness. Nothing but a random oddity in his DNA. So Lance just ignored it his whole life, like he ignored the harsh remarks of the other students at his school.

“Look, he’s trying to be cool!” A particularly snobbish girl with blonde pigtails had laughed, pointing, and Lance had kept his head down and kept walking. The taunts didn’t stop throughout both years of middle school, only growing worse when his peers found out about his colorblindness. He ignored the graffiti on his desk and he got better at dodging pushes and skipping over feet meant to trip him.

His family was always accepting, at least. His younger cousins Milo and Andrea had a fascination with his eye, complimenting it with childish sincerity. His older brother Simon had patched up scrapes and bruises from schoolyard fights and his older twin sisters, Angelica and Eliza, had always been ready with his favorite Disney movies and ice cream after particularly bad days.

Those were the days when he wasn’t light enough on his feet and bullies had punched and kicked to their hearts content- he must have been an easy target, Lance figured, with the heterochromia and the colorblindness and the skinny frame. So on the bad days he would crawl onto the couch with all his blankets and Angelica and Eliza would bring mint chocolate-chip ice cream and a bunch of spoons out to the living room, and then they’d shuffle around until they found the remote and start with _Lilo & Stitch_.

By halfway through the first film, Simon always joined them, and when Lance whined until Eliza would stand up to switch the ending film out with _Treasure Planet_ his little siblings Carlos, Benji, and Amy joined them. All seven of the Santiago siblings would sit quietly together, and they would work their way through _The Little Mermaid_ before Amy and Benji would be asleep.

“You’ll be okay, right, Stitch?” Angelica would ask in a gentle tone, a comforting hand on his shoulder as her twin stood next to her. “You sure you don’t want Mamá to call the school?”

“Yeah, guys. I’ll be okay, I promise,” Lance would always say without fail as he headed towards his room.

Graduating from middle school into high school had been a curse disguised as a blessing- Lance moved to a new school district and went to _Sunset Valley High School_ , a matching brown contact placed carefully over his blue eye and a confident smile on his face.

It turned out that Lance’s heterochromia wasn’t the only thing that could persuade people to kick his ass- smiling at the pretty cheerleader in his French class warranted it as well.

Lance realized early on that those people who said high school was the best years of their lives were full of shit.

So he built up a thick shell of sarcasm and flirting with pretty girls and hiding that he wanted to flirt with pretty boys, as well, because why give them another reason to hate him, right? He got better at dodging punches and he got okay at throwing them, too, and he got better at hiding and running and climbing to places where bullies couldn’t reach him.

Benji and Amy started to become more and more his responsibility once his dad left, and he started doing the shopping with Eliza- his mother was swamped with trying to support a family of nine and with Simon at college and Angelica helping with raising the new baby Lulu, there was nobody else to do it. Lance’s world became his siblings- take Amy to dance practice and Benji to soccer, make sure Eliza has time to go to work _and_ continue singing in her school’s choir, keeping the younger kids away from Angelica while she balanced studying and babysitting. Cleaning and cooking while his mother was at work.  Helping Carlos with his homework because Lance remembered how bad learning algebra had sucked and he couldn’t leave his little brother to suffer alone.

He became so wrapped up in his family that he had stopped paying attention to the gossip and rumors that were scattered throughout his school, missing whispers of _princess_ and _royalty_ that were traded between other students.

“Class, we have a new student today!” His homeroom teacher had announced, and Lance barely lifted his head in acknowledgment. The rest of his class was buzzing with excitement as the door started to open, and Lance looked down just as it did. “It is my great honor to introduce to you Allura Altea, who will be a student here from now on!”

Standing tall and graceful at the front of the room was a girl with dark skin marked with pale patches, and long, silver-white hair pulled back into a ponytail. She was dressed in all pastels and she was looking at the group of girls who were offering a seat next to them when Lance looked up at her. His heart stopped for a split second and he quickly looked down when her gaze shifted to him, heart pounding in his throat as he stared at his desk.

Even with his colorblindess he could see the different shades of her eyes- one was darker, and the other was cold and pale. A mirror image of his own.

Lance had avoided Allura like the plague after that, never even making eye contact with the girl. The rumor that she was a princess of a coastal country in Europe came and went, but Allura still went on to become one of the most popular people at their school. She was a bright and happy addition to the school, and she never seemed to notice Lance.

Things went along normally from that point on, and Lance convinced himself that it was just a coincidence that she had heterochromia as well. He couldn’t help but notice her when she walked into a room, and he was drawn to her like everyone else in the school- he was a satellite and she was the sun. They coexisted, always near each other but never once crossing paths.

Until halfway through their junior year they remained separate, never making contact despite many opportunities to. Yet Lance’s luck at avoiding the girl ran out, and much like an off-course satellite, he had to crash somewhere.

“Carlos, Benji, Amy, have you seen my contacts?” Lance yelled, panic beginning to swell in his chest as he searched through the bathroom. All his younger siblings replied with a negative, and Lance looked at the scrawled note he had written reminding him of his Calculus test and bit his lip.

A few more minutes of fruitless searching passed and his siblings started yelling for him to hurry up, so Lance prayed that his classmates wouldn’t notice and headed out the door. He slid into the front seat of his car and waited impatiently for his siblings to pile in after him.

“Let’s go, let’s go!” He said impatiently and Carlos kicked his seat in return, causing Lance to scowl. After dropping Amy and Benji off at the elementary and middle schools respectively, Lance drove himself and Carlos to _Sunset Valley High School_ , ruffling his brother’s hair quickly before running to class.

His uncovered eye went unnoticed until lunchtime, and then the jeers started. The other student's teasing was bearable until Allura and her friends arrived.

“Hah! Look, Allura, the freak’s just trying to copy you!” One particularly nasty girl laughed, and it was the last straw for Lance. Grabbing his bag he stood and walked quickly out of the cafeteria, heading for his locker.

He was _angry_. After years of enduring bullying from his _stupid_ heterochromia, people had the audacity to assume he was just some half-assed copycat trying to ride off the popularity of some girl, jeering and taunting because they thought he was trying to look _cool_.

Lance was angry enough that he didn’t hear the footsteps behind him until it was too late.

“Wait!” the familiar voice called out from behind him, and Lance turned only to make eye contact with Allura Altea.

They stood stock-still for what felt like years as slowly but surely, the chocolate brown of Allura’s right eye began to fade away into icy blue to match her left eye. She lifted a hand and pointed wordlessly at Lance.

The realization hit him hard as he fumbled for his phone, watching as Allura did the same thing. He flipped the camera to it’s front view and watched, half fascinated and half horrified as his own left eye started to fade from the icy grey he knew as blue into the same darker shade as his right eye.

“Our eyes,” Allura whispers in awe, hand reaching up to gently probe at the skin around her formerly brown eye, as if making sure it was real.

“Holy shit,” Lance whispers in reply, looking up at the girl. “It happened when we looked at each other,” he says quietly, and Allura nods, shock still evident in her expression. 

They stand stock still for a moment longer, just looking at each other, and Lance has to admit to himself that she is much prettier with matching eyes, the stark, cold grey standing out against her dark skin and creating the most beautiful sort of juxtaposition. He could see the hints of different shades that he never saw in his own blue eye, bringing out unfamiliar shades that were so familiar but so alien at the same time. Thinking about it made Lance think of his own eye again, how they both must be that familiar deep color he saw whenever he looked at his mother, flickering different shades in the sunlight and always so warm and full of emotion.

Allura steps closer to Lance, hesitating slightly but reaching out to take his hand in hers anyways, and Lance felt himself flush at the contact.

“I… I think we need to sit down and talk to each other,” Allura says quietly, brushing her hair out of her face and tucking the wayward strand behind her ear. Lance’s blush deepens as he looks at the other girl, and he reaches up and rubs at the back of his neck, looking away.

“I would like that,” Lance replies, his tone unusually shy. “Maybe you could come over this afternoon, if you don’t mind dealing with my siblings?” He offers, and Allura nods and smiles brightly at Lance, who resists the urge to squint because _wow_ , her teeth are literally _flawless_.

The moment breaks as other students begin to flood the halls around them, and Allura leans forwards and pecks Lance’s cheek so fast he hardly has time to register that it happened before she darts the other way.

Lance spends the rest of his day in a daze, stumbling through english and physics and thanking every god his Mamá’s ever told him about that his test was before lunch. Carlos raises an eyebrow when Lance manages to hit himself in the face with the door of his locker after school, and he blatantly laughs when Lance sees Allura leaning against the side of his car and trips over his own two feet.

“A-Allura, hi!” He stumbles over his words before he straightening up and shooting finger guns at Allura. The girl raises an eyebrow and laughs. “Wow, hi, okay, so we have to pick up my younger siblings, is that okay?"

Allura grins and nods at him and Lance feels a little bit like he’s flying as it hits him that her grin is for _him_ , that she’s smiling _at him._ He figures he must look a little dumb as he grins back at her and unlocks his car.

He comes crashing down when the same girl from lunch passes by, sneering at Lance and his old, beat up Chevy before turning to speak to Allura. “Allura, babe, what’re you doin’ with _that_ freak? You don’t have to hang out with him just because you feel bad,” she says, and Allura’s bright sunny expression vanishes and Lance is a little terrified as Allura steps towards her with an expression that Lance can only describe as _murder_ on her face.

“I can spend time with _whoever_ I want too, Anne,” Allura hissed, “and it is none of _your_ business!” she said before turning on her heel and climbing into the passenger seat of Lance’s car.

“Holy _fuck_ ,” Carlos says from the backseat as Lance starts to drive, and Allura looks a little flushed as Lance’s little brother leans forwards to stare at her. Lance himself is stunned enough that he can’t even bring himself to tell Carlos off for cursing. “That was _awesome!_ Lance, did you see her face?” He says, and Lance nods, unable to stop the grin spreading across his face.

“It was pretty awesome,” he says, glancing over at Allura, who grins hesitantly back.

“Yeah,” she says, looking over at Lance with a flushed face and sparkling eyes.

They make the drive to the elementary school in no time, and both Amy and Benji are sitting on the fence waiting for them. Lance honks twice and they scamper over to the car, piling into the backseat with Carlos.

“Amy, Benji, this is Allura,” Lance introduces, and Allura flashes his siblings her sparkling smile and waves at them.

“Lance,” Benji whispers, leaning forwards to whisper loudly into his brother’s ear, “She’s _pretty,_ ” he says, and then Amy’s leaning forwards to whisper in his other ear.

“Is she your girlfriend?” His sister asks, and Lance splutters and flushes and pushes both siblings back towards their seats. Allura starts laughing and his siblings soon join in, and Lance can feel his ears burning as he starts the drive back to his house.

Mamá Santiago greets all of her children with a kiss on the forehead and a hug at the door, and when she sees Allura she stops and turns to Lance to smacks the back of his head.

“Lance Santiago, you didn’t tell me you were bringing a _lady_ home!” She whispers brightly, before turning to Allura and scooping her up in a hug. “It is so lovely to meet you! Lance rarely brings friends home, so it is so nice to see him finally socializing more,” Lance’s mother continues, and Lance groans before grabbing Allura’s hand and tugging her towards the stairs.

“We’ll be in my room, Mamá!” He calls behind him, and his mother’s laughter follows them up the stairs.

“You have the same eyes as your mom,” Allura says quietly once they’re in Lance’s room, and Lance shoots a feeble grin back at her.

“Now I do, yeah,” he replies, and then the memories of that day come rushing back. “Why do you think our eyes changed?” He asks Allura, who looks down at her hands. She moves and sits on the edge of Lance’s bed, and Lance sits on the other side, their backs facing each other.

“My mother always used to tell me that somewhere, somehow, there would be someone waiting for you- that you would know when you saw them, that they were your person, and that you were supposed to be theirs. In English, I think you would call them… soulmates?” the girl offers, and the word hangs heavy in the air between the two teenagers.

Lance lets himself fall backwards onto his bed, his head landing next to Allura’s lap. “My _tiá_ would say something similar, that we all had something waiting for us. A person, a job, a lifestyle, or just something that happens one day… we all have an star at the end of the universe,” he says, and Allura lets herself drop backwards onto the bed next to him, her head landing near Lance’s knees.

“Maybe I’m your star, Lance,” she says softly.

“And I would be your soulmate, then?” he replies, and Allura gives a soft hum of agreement. “Never thought I’d ever believe in fate,” Lance says, and he can feel Allura’s laughter rumble through his mattress.

“Honestly? I always though my mother was just making it up,” she says, and Lance laughs with her. Their laughter dissapates quickly and Allura uses her knee to nudge Lance’s shoulder, and he nudges her back gently. “You’re taking this awfully well, Lance,” she says, and Lance sighs dramatically.

“I always knew I was different, even as a baby,” he says theatrically, flinging a hand over his eyes. “I’m practically a YA dystopian hero at this point”.

Laughing, Allura shut her eyes and smiled softly, basking in the warm sunlight as she lay opposite of Lance on his bed. The world seemed to fade away as Lance looked up at the other teen, basking in her presence like she was basking in the sunlight, and for a few moments, everything felt right.

**ii. the most exciting thing i’d ever known**

Lance and Allura moved into their new apartment just as summer started to slowly descend into fall. Not even their parents were sure of what to call the pair- best friends, lovers, a couple, or something more. Since that fateful day in their juniour year, the two had become closer to each other than anyone else, bonded by a love that even they weren’t sure they could define.

The apartment they had chosen was situated perfectly inbetween their universities of choice- the Castle Institution of Technology for Allura, and the Lazuli Valley School of the Arts for Lance. Single bedroom and small, it was near a small corner store owned by a Korean couple and down the road from an art supplies shop that was run by a stern-looking old woman named Blue, who gave Lance a job and occasionally put free sketchbooks into his bag.

Between Lance’s job at the Paladin Art Supply Store and Allura’s inheritance, they were comfortable- never worrying about food or paying rent, luckier than most college students.

The duo were happy and they knew each other well- Lance had memorized Allura’s coffee order and Allura always seemed to know where Lance’s stylus was, and they liked their peacful life together. Allura had learned about all of Lance’s little quirks, from the strange, lion-shaped birthmark that stood stark red above his heart, to the sudden sensations he felt out of nowhere. They were always there to listen to each other’s complaints and to sympathize over bad days, ready and waiting with blankets and a Disney movie or hot chocolate and loud, happy music to cheer the other up.

Which was how Allura Altea found herself reading the back of a box of cereal as Lance leaned over the shopping cart and whined.

“And he just _saunters_ into the store like he owns the place, and he has the _audacity_ to call Blue old! He’s in my figure drawing class too, and he’s always _chatting_ with the models and _flirting_ with them and it’s so gross!” He moaned, and Allura hummed sympathetically.

“I’m sure it was bad, honey,” she says absentmindedly, adding the cereal to their cart and moving down the aisle. Lance followed behind dutifully, continuing to rant about the boy who he kept running into around town.

“It was the _worst_ ,” he said decisivley, and Allura turned as he went to continue, only to find Lance pale and gaping, with his mouth wide open.

The young woman turned and followed his line of sight to see he was staring at another young man who was standing at the end of the aisle. She quickly ran the appearance of the man alongside the man Lance had described. _Mullet_ , check, _douchebag gloves and crop jacket_ , check _,_ and then the man turned and Allura understood why Lance’s jaw had dropped.

The stranger was wearing a loose tank top under the crop jacket, and peeking out from under it, just above his heart, was a birthmark identical to Lance’s- although where Lance had scalding red, the stranger had deep, cool blue. A beat passes before Allura remembers Lance’s colorblindness, realizing that he’s seeing a mirror image of his own birthmark stamped on the othe man’s skin.

“Holy fuck, what the _fuck_ , Allura, am I hallucinating?” Lance said, and Allura shook her head, eyes wide as she stared at him.

“I’m gonna talk to him,” she says, and Lance begs her not to and turns bright pink as his maybe-sorta-girlfriend promtly ignores him and approaches his maybe-sorta-rival.

Lance watches, half-hiding behind the cart as Allura and the stranger have a pleasant exchange. Allura gestures back at Lance, who flushes and waves awkwardly. The other man raises an eyebrow and runs a hand through his (gross) mullet, before smiling bashfully down at Allura.

“What the fuck, is he hitting on my girlfriend?” Lance asks himself as Allura _blushes_ and heads back his way. When she makes her way back to him, Lance raises an eyebrow and says “Was he _flirting_ with you?”

Allura shrugs, taking charge of the cart and pushing it down the aisle. “Honestly, who doesn’t?” She asks, and Lance trails after her. “His name is Keith Kogane, he’s a sculptor, and he lives two blocks over from us!” She cheerfully informs Lance, who frowns.

“Why should I care about his stupid, alliterative name?” He asks, and the look Allura shoots at him _screams_ ‘are-you-kidding-me’. “What?” He asks defensively, and Allura sighs, patting his head like he’s a puppy.

“You, Lance, are a dumbass. My dearest, most adored dumbass- but so so _very_ dumb,” she says, ignoring Lance’s protests as she continues shopping.

It’s a few peaceful weeks before Keith is brought up again, and when he finally does, its because Allura brings him over for dinner. Unbeknownst to Lance, she had gotten his number off of him, and they had been keeping in touch- so when Lance comes home to see Keith Kogane, his probably-maybe-rival sitting at his kitchen table.

“Allura?” He calls out, eyeing Keith suspiciously, “Why is the mullet-headed asshole from my figure drawing class at our table?” He asks, and Allura walks into the room, rolling her eyes.

“ _Keith_ is here because I invited him, dear,” she says, and Lance squints at her.

“On purpose?”

Allura smacks him. “You are the absolute worst, Santiago! Play nice, or else,” she threatens, before turning to Keith and shooting him an apologetic smile. “Sorry about him,” she says, and Keith smiles at her.

“ _Anyways_ , I figured we could watch a movie after dinner- you artsy types do watch movies that aren’t from France, right?” She teases, and Lance sighs, wrapping his arms around her waist and propping his head up on her shoulder.

“Si vous insistez, chérie,” Lance says, and Keith snorts, looking away from the couple. Lance kisses Allura on the cheek and ignores how red Keith’s cheeks have gone.

Allura pushes Lance away and moves into the small kitchen, pulling out ingredients and placing them on the counter. She pulls her hair up out of her face and gets to chopping things up, ordering Lance to get his “multilingual ass in gear” and get everyone drinks.

“Yo, Mullet, what can I get for you? There’s apple juice, beer, and water,” Lance offers, and Keith rolls his eyes at the nicknames and requests a beer.

It’s not as bad as Allura had thought bringing Keith home might have been- he and Lance get along quite well despite the teasing, and the teasing turns from barely malicious into good-natured banter in no time. They end up watching Star Wars (A New Hope) after Keith admits he’s never seen it- Lance loudly proclaims this a travesty, so the three of them pile onto Lance and Allura’s shitty couch and start the film.

One movie turns into two turns into three, and by the end of Return of the Jedi both the boys are asleep. Lance has his legs over Keith’s lap and Keith is slumped against Lance’s side; Allura takes a picture and sets it as her background.

Over the next few months, Keith and Lance grow closer- Keith stops being a prescence in their life just via Lance’s complaints- movie nights become common, and Keith just being _around_ becomes such a normal occurance in their lives that his absence at dinner one night is obvious, the room seeming stark and empty without him.

Lance is unusually quiet too, and it freaks Allura out a little bit- he’s always been loud, even when upset. It’s how he handles things, and Allura can only attribute the silence to something that has to do with the mysteriously missing Keith.

“Are you okay, Lance?” She asks, pushign around the vegetables on her plate with her fork. “You’re being a little quiet-“

“You remember when we met? How… how you said you were my star, and I was your soulmate, and everything has been good since then?” Lance pipes up suddenly, and Allura sees the wisp of a boy she had met in highschool for a moment- shy, unsure, scared.

“How could I forget?” She shoots back, raising an eyebrow. “Does this have to do with Keith?” She asks, and Lance flinches back like-

_Like Friday before a football game, under the bleachers during cheer practice, a bullies hand raised to hit, making contact again and again before you found-_

Allura pulls herself towards Lance, shaking the memory away as she wraps her arms around him, strong but gentle. “Lance, honey,” she whispers, a worried frown etched across her face as she pulled Lance closer to her. “What happened?”

“He saw my birthmark,” Lance whispers back, barely audible. “And I said the same thing- about the stars, because I’m an _idiot_ , and he pushed me away and _ran_ ,” he continues, clinging tightly to Allura. “He probably hates me now”.

“Do you want me to kick his ass?” Allura asks, her tone light as she smiles softly at Lance, who grins back up at her through tears.

“Just a little?” He asks, and Allura kisses his forehead.

“Just a little,” She says, and the two abandon their dinner plates and move themselves to their shared bed.

When they wake the next day, Lance has his arms wrapped around Allura’s midsection and his head tucked under her chin, and Allura’s legs have wrapped around Lance’s waist. They spend the day in their pajamas in true Lazy Saturday fashion, and Lance spends the day drawing- drawing the city, drawing Allura, drawing little doodles of his favorite cartoon characters.

That’s what he’s doing when the buzzer goes off- Allura’s wearing her pajama shirt open over a sports bra and her hair is pulled loosely away from her face, and warm golden light from the setting sun washes over her face as she focuses on the book she’s reading.

The buzzer slices through their peace like a hot knife through butter, and Lances pads over to the door to answer it.

“Altea-Santiago residence,” he says in a monotone, but a second later he freezes into hard edges, a scowl spreading across his face.

“Lance, I really need to talk to you,” Keith says, his voice crackling through the shitty speaker by the door. “Please let me up?”

Lance walks over to the couch and lays down. “Y’know, I put up with a lot of bullshit, but you know what I am dealing with right now?” He asks before pointing at the door. “Not that is the answer,” he says, before putting a pillow over his face and screaming.

Allura walks over to the door and speaks into the microphone, her best sugary-sweet voice on as she talks. “Keith, you’re my friend and I love you, but murder is on the table right now so you best skeddadle before I come downstairs and kick your ass,” she says, and silence falls. Lance even stops screaming and sits up, leaning forwards to hear Keith’s response.

“So, another time?” He asks weakly, and Allura hums her assent.

“Wait!” Lance yells, and suddenly he’s vaulting over the couch and right out the door, blue lion slippers and all.

“On that thought,” Allura says into the microphone with a grin, “I think you should stick around”. Moving to the window, Allura opens it and leans out, and she can just barely see Keith’s back as he stands by the door.

Lance knocks him into veiw with a kiss, and Allura smiles and closes the window, returning to her book on astrophysics.

The boys stumble into the apartment a few minutes later, kissing, and Allura just keeps reading her book, only glancing up to return Lance’s thumbs up. They fall into the bedroom and Keith stops kissing Lance and turns and looks at her, confusion written plainly on his face as he gestures between Allura and Lance.

Lance tugs at his waist and Allura just winks at him, so Keith shrugs and turns around to keep kissing Lance.

Allura makes herself comfortable on the couch with a mug of tea and large, noise-cancelling headphones before pulling out her phone.

 **allur(a)ing:** u will never guess who lance just dragged into my apartment

 **spaceboy:** oh my god. really??

It’s around midnight when Allura lets herself into the bedroom, shutting the door behind her and grinning at the sight that awaits her. Keith and Lance are sprawled across the bed, both fast asleep- Lance is wearing different pajamas from before, and Keith is wearing Lance’s old **PLUTO PROTECTION SQUAD** shirt and a pair of boxers Allura’s sure she’s seen before.

She crawls inbetween them and pulls the blankets up over herself smiling as she shuts her eyes.

“Why are you okay with this?” Keith’s voice breaks the silence, and Allura turns to look at him. He’s staring at her and she shrugs the best she can without jostling Lance.

“Lance and I have a… unique relationship, I guess? Lance is my sun and stars, my soulmate, but I don’t think there’s anything wrong with me having more than one soulmate, or with _him_ having more than one soulmate or lover or _whatever_. We’re connected, and we’re always gonna have each other, and I don’t mind what he does as long as he’s honest and comes home to me in the end,” she explains, before raising an eyebrow at Keith. “The real question is, are you okay with him coming home to me?”

Keith is quiet for a few moments, and Allura almost thinks that he’s fallen asleep again when he starts talking.

“I think both of us could come home to you, maybe,” and Allura’s about to respond when Lance decides to speak up.

“Aw, babe, he likes you!”

“God, do you have to ruin everything?” Keith groans, and Allura laughs as the two bicker back and forth.

Allura falls asleep samwiched between the two, cheek resting on Keith’s chest and with Lance’s arm slung over her waist.

Keith wakes up in the morning with the distinct, sort-of unusual feeling of being completely and utterly comfortable. Somehow in the night he made his way inbetween Lance and Allura, both who were cuddling him. Allura had latched herself onto one of his arms, and Lance was draped across his chest with a hand on Allura’s back.

Trying to shift his arm out of Allura’s grasp turns to be pointless once the girl wakes up and glares at him, making a point to cling tighter. “Not a chance, Keith,” she mumbles, still half asleep. “I will fight you,” she continues, resting her head on his shoulder.

“Don’t test her,” Lance adds in a sleepy murmer, and Keith can’t help but laugh a little.

“I don’t doubt it,” he says, and Lance grins sleepily up at him, hand moving to trace over Keith’s half of their matching birthmarks. “Wouldn’t want to cross her,” he whispers, and Lance shakes his head.

“Sides, it’s not often one gets Lance and Allura cuddles at the same time- savor it, my dude,” Lance says, and Keith lets his head fall back onto the pillow and shuts his eyes.

Might as well relax while he still can.

**iii. never knew lovin’ could hurt so good / iv. need a little sweetness in my life**

“Hey, does this skirt make my ass look big?” Lance asks, turning to give himself a better view of his hips in the mirror that’s propped against the door.

“Yes,” Keith replies without looking away from his own mirror, eyeliner pencil held carefully in his hand as he focuses. Lance sticks out his tongue at his boyfriend before turning to Allura, who is clipping thigh-high socks striped with the pansexual pride colors onto a plain black garter belt.

She looks up at Lance, and then at his hips, cocking her head to the side. She gestures for him to spin, and he does, making the pale blue pleated skirt swirl around him.

“Tell me, Lance,” She says, looking up at him, “Is your ass looking big really so bad? I quite like it.” Allura stands, letting her skirt fall to mid-thigh, plain black with a soft pink lace trim. She prances over to wear her shoes wait by the door of the room they all share, floral Doc Martins with shimmering silver laces threaded through them. Lance goes for his signature blue Chuck Taylors, and Keith wears knee-high black-heeled boots.

Lance wiggles up to Keith and kisses him, before pulling away and whispering “No Homo,” as quietly as he can. Keith still hears him, but before he can speak, Lance kisses him again and then darts out the door yelling “Full Bi!” as loud as he can.

“Why do we date him?” Keith asks, and Allura just stares after Lance, shrugging.

Allura and Keith follow Lance down to the street before setting out towards the bar that’s hosting the Pride celebration in their little college town- a small, quaint queer-friendly bar called _QUIZNAK_ that was a few blocks away from their apartment.

Allura’s phone buzzes and she checks it discretely while Keith and Lance bicker about something.

 **spaceboy:** can’t make it tonight- flight was cancelled. i’m really sorry, allura, i really wanted to be there.

 **allur(a)ing:** oh man :(

 **allur(a)ing:** it’s okay!! we can always meet up another time.

“You okay, babe?” Lance asks, leaning on her shoulder as she tucks her phone away. They’ve made it to _QUIZNAK_ , but the line stretches almost around the block, so they get in line and Keith joins Lance with draping himself across Allura.

“Yup! Another friend of mine was gonna be here tonight, but he had to bail,” she explains, trying not to let her voice show how upset she is. Keith and Lance seem to buy it, focusing their attention on other things.

They slowly but surely move forwards in line, eventually greeting the bouncer with familiar waves and grins as they head inside.

 _QUIZNAK_ is loud, and there are lots of rainbow lights pulsing across the bar that give it a heavy, glowing atmosphere. People are laughing and loud, happy music plays across the room, a dance floor cleared out in the middle of the space. Allura grabs Keith by the arm and makes a beeline for the dance floor, saying something about how “ _this is **my song** , keith!_” as Keith makes a helpless face back at Lance, who simply shrugs and makes his way to the bar.

“What can I get for you, sir?” The bartender asks, and they’re not the familiar green haired woman who usually works the bar- rather, the bartender looks like the exact opposite. Short, pale, and skinny, their brown hair puffs out in a cloud around them. Green eyes shine behind large, round glasses, and they’re wearing an agender pride hoodie that reads, “ **WORMS HAVE NO GENDER AND NEITHER DO I”** in bold black letters.

“I’ll, uh, I’ll take an Electric Lemonade, please!” Lance says cheerily, sliding his credit card over the bar. “I’d like to open a tab, too, if you’d be so kind”.

“You and everyone else here,” the bartender says, snorting as they turn to make Lance’s drink. They turn back a few moments later and slide the bright blue drink over to Lance, grinning at him as they quip “That isn’t even the gayest drink I’ve made tonight”.

“I guess I’m gonna have to try harder then, won’t I?” Lance replies, wrapping his hands around his drink. “I’m Lance, but you can call me anytime,” he says, shooting the bartender finger guns as they roll their eyes. Lance can’t help but want to impress the bartender, and he’s not really sure why.

The bartender unzips their hoodie to reveal another pride shirt underneath- this one in the demiromantic colors and reading “ **I DON’T PLAY WITH CASUALS** ”, followed by a GameCube controller. Lance laughs loudly leaning forwards and smiling brightly at them. “You can call me Pidge,” they say, grinning back.

“Are you hitting on the poor, unsuspecting bartender?” Keith asks him, and Lance shrugs easily, letting his (significantly more sweaty than before) boyfriend lean on him.

Lance is about to reply when Allura’s voice cuts through the crowd, loud enough to be heard above the music.

“Look, I said _no_ , and I really don’t want to have to get my boyfriends involved with this-“ Allura says, pushing the man away with one hand as she tries to keep walking towards the bar.

“C’mon, baby,” the creep with his hands on her waist moves closer, and Allura shoves him away again- she’s not using her full strength, trying to avoid making a scene, and Lance and Keith are both on their feet in an instant, moving towards her.

Pidge leaping easily over the bar and putting themselves in between Allura and the creep cuts them off, and both Lance and Keith hang back, watching what happens.

“Look, dude, either you back off, or I’m going to have to ask you to leave,” they say, and Lance is pretty sure he’s never heard someone that short sound so threatening before. The creep laughs, and Pidge puts their hands on their hips, looking up at him.

“Those are fightin’ words, runt,” they say, and Lance’s _‘oh shit there’s gonna be a fight’_ sense kicks in just as the jerk’s fist is slamming upwards into Pidge’s chin, and Lance _feels_ it hit him too- he stumbles backwards into Keith, stars flashing before his eyes as he blinks.

He sees the green-haired usual bartender and a bouncer haul the guy away, and Green helps the bartender to their feet just as Lance loses consciousness.

Allura smacking him across the face, hard, awakes him and Pidge says _“ow!_ ” and glares at his girlfriend.

“What the fuck,” is the first thing he says, pointing at the bartender. “He hit you, why did I feel it?” _Still feeling it,_ Lance thinks, rubbing ruefully at the spot on his chin that still throbs with pain.

Pidge rolls their eyes and shrugs, looking away from him. “Hell if I know, dude, but every time someone touches you, I can _feel_ it,” they say, scowling. “It’s weird, and I don’t like it”.

Lance opens his mouth to say something, but closes it again as his eyes snap to Allura’s.

Allura’s mouth falls open as they see the look on Lance’s face, and her hand comes up to cover her mouth as she looks between Lance and Pidge. Confusion splays across Keith’s features for a brief moment before his hand flies up to touch where his soulmark is, and he turns to stare at Pidge.

“Oh, no,” Allura whispers, and Lance just continues to stare.

“…Okay, why do you all look like you’ve had some big realization that I’m not a part of?” They ask, and Keith and Allura both turn to Lance.

“Aw, hell,” he says, sighing before turning to Pidge and starting to explain. “Look, you’re not gonna believe me…”

A few minutes later, Pidge is staring at him like he’s grown an extra head. “You’re right, I don’t believe you,” they say, and Lance sighs. “Like, seriously, what the fuck, my dude,” Pidge continues, staring at Lance.

“Look, we get it, we sound crazy, you’re demiromo, but hey, it’s got to mean _something_ , right?” Lance laughs, shrugging. “We share _sensations_ , man, how fucked up is that? It can’t just be nothin’”. 

Pidge sits and considers this, cocking their head to the side and studying Lance. Eventually they snatch Lance’s arm, and pulling a sharpie out of their hair, they scribble a phone number down.

“You,” they say, capping the sharpie and pointing it at Lance, “are going to text me, and then maybe take me out for breakfast and we will have a conversation where neither of us have been recently punched,” and Lance just grins at them.

“Aww, I knew you’d come around!” He says, and Pidge shoves his face away, but they’re grinning too.

The green-haired bartender pokes her head in the door, smiling wide. Her dark skin is covered in glitter and she sparkles with the ambient rainbow lights that flood through the open door.

“You all better, little bird? I need your help back out on the bar!” She says, and Pidge gets to their feet, brushing their jacket off.

“On my way, Midori!” Pidge replies brightly, turning back to face Lance. “You, me, pancakes. Deal?”

“Deal,” Lance says.

They go home from _QUIZNAK_ early that night, and Lance sends a text to Pidge so they’ll have his number. Just before he goes to bed, they reply, the message popping up bright and brilliant against Lance’s screen.

 **[insert bird meme here]:** goodnight, freaky soulmate boy.

Lance smiles as he falls asleep that night.

“Come on, dude, this is the best breakfast place _ever_!” Pidge exclaims two weeks later, tugging at Lance’s sleeve. This is their third ‘brate’ (“ _come on, pidge, it can mean bro-date OR breakfast-date!_ ”) this week, and Pidge told Lance they were saving this place until he had proven himself worthy.

Pidge drags Lance into the tiny diner that Lance must pass on his way to school every day- it’s just so small, and tucked away like a hidden treasure, and he’s never noticed it. They get seated right away, and when Pidge asks what he wants with _such_ enthusiasm he just lets them order for him.

“Okay, so I know the cook, and he’s _such_ a cool guy and he comes into Quiznak sometimes and he’s just so chill and nice? He might come and see us if he recognizes my order,” they ramble, looking over at Lance nervously.

They sit and talk for a while- Lance tells Pidge about his art, about Keith and Allura, about his family back home. Pidge rambles on about technology and their hopes of building an AI that works just like people do, and they talk about their father and brother and how they want to go into space someday.

Plates of food being unloaded onto their table interrupt them, and Lance turns to thank the waitress only to make eye contact with one of the prettiest people he’s ever seen in his entire life. Don’t get him wrong, he thinks Keith and Allura are _otherworldly_ and _stunning_ , but this guy is just straight up _pretty_. Smooth, dark skin, a wide smile, a round, soft frame, and dark hair pulled underneath a bandanna leave Lance speechless as Pidge greets the man.

“Hunk, this is Lance!” They introduce, and Lance snaps out of it for long enough to snap a witty one-liner out, along with his best grin.

“May I say how appropriate your name is?” He asks, and Hunk laughs and blushes, looking to the side and rubbing the back of his head.

“Haha, enjoy your meal, you two!” He says, and his face is still red when he disappears into the kitchen.

“Do you hit on anything that _breathes_?” Pidge asks, eyebrow raised as they stare at Lance, who is still sort of out of it.

“Are you jealous, my dear sweet Pigeon? Do I need to water you more? Are you not getting enough sunlight to photosynthesize?” Lance asks, waggling his eyebrows at Pidge, who pulls a face at him.

They dig into the food and Lance nearly dies _again_ , because it’s not fair for someone that pretty to be this good at cooking.

“Told you it was good,” Pidge says smugly over their mug of coffee, and Lance would stick out his tongue if his mouth wasn’t full of the best pancakes he’s ever eaten.

He walks Pidge the rest of the way to school after they finish breakfast, and because it’s his day off, Lance goes directly home after that to go right back to bed. Pidge is great, and breakfast is great, but Lance is sacrificing some _serious_ beauty sleep for them.

“I think I’m in love,” he announces when he gets home, walking straight past both Keith and Allura to collapse on their bed.

“…he’s said it to you before, right?” Allura asks Keith, who nods.

“Maybe Pidge?” Keith suggests, and Lance rolls over, groaning.

“I met the second prettiest man in the world today, and he makes _phenomenal_ pancakes,” Lance explains, and Allura shrugs while Keith cocks his head.

“Prettier than me?” Keith asks, and Lance waves his hand dismissively.

“Who’dya think number one is, dumbass?” he says, and Keith starts grinning before he continues, “he does make better pancakes, though,” Lance hums thoughtfully, and Keith scowls in his direction.

“Do you think he has a soulmark?” Allura asks, and Lance sits up, shaking his head.

“If anything, I would have had to start _miraculously_ seeing in color when we made eye contact, and we all know the chances of _that_ ever happening are slim to none,” he says, running a hand through his hair. “I think that I just _like_ him, rather than all the magic stuff. Not that the magic stuff is bad, and I love you both very much, don’t get me wrong!” He hurriedly adds, before collapsing back onto the bed.

Silence falls between the three of them before Allura stands, grabbing her bag and keys and making her way over to kiss Lance on the forehead.

“You’ve got my blessing, babe,” she says, ruffling Keith’s hair on her way out the door.

“Why the fuck not, I mean?” Keith adds, shrugging. “There’s three of us already, four if you count Pidge, why not make it five?” Keith stands, making his way over to the bed and collapsing next to Lance. “Life’s too short, anyways,” he mumbles, and Lance curls around him, arms looping around his waist.

“Damn straight,” Lance says into Keith’s shoulder.

Allura comes home and is greeted by both boys sitting in front of the TV, just starting to unload boxes of chinese takeout onto their plates. Pidge is with them, wearing a loose t-shirt and alien-print pajama shorts.

“Honey, I’m home,” Allura says, hanging up her bag and stepping into the bedroom. She emerges a few minutes later with her hair down, wearing one of Keith’s t-shirts and a pair of Lance’s pajama pants. She settles onto the couch and makes grabby hands at Lance until he hands over the Chow Mein in his hands.

They all end up asleep, the end credits of Cinderella playing out on the screen as they snore.

The next day is a Saturday, and they all have the morning off, so they go back to the diner. They collectively order enough food to feed an army, and Hunk comes back out to greet them again.

“Back for more?” He asks, grinning at Lance, who flushes a brilliant red and hides behind Allura, who giggles at Lance’s pain.

“Hey, Hunk,” Pidge cuts in, leaning forwards to grin at the cook, “We’re having a picnic next Friday evening, you wanna come?”

“We’re having a picnic?” Keith asks, right as Hunk says “Sure thing!”

Pidge promises to text Hunk the details, grinning deviously as Lance quietly dies in his seat. Allura raises an eyebrow at their nonbinary companion, who shrugs back at her.

“I guess we’re having a picnic on Friday,” Allura says, looking down at Lance, who is slowly reemerging.

“Pidge, you’re the worst, and I hate that we’re platonic soulmates,” Lance says, and Pidge props their chin up on their hands and grins, lazy and catlike, at Lance.

“Sounds fake, but okay,” Pidge replies easily, before picking up her fork and digging in. Keith and Allura start eating as well, and Lance simply lays his head on the table and groans.

“Stop being such a drama queen, Lance,” Keith says, bonking him lightly on the head with his cup of orange juice.

“Keith, you know that if he stops being dramatic he’d probably die,” Allura snarks, and Lance turns and scowls at her. She sticks out her tongue at Lance and Pidge ad Keith erupt into laughter at the look on his face.

They finish eating and head out, Pidge stopping to wave to Hunk on their way out. They all tease Lance about his crush on Hunk relentlessly, the boy whining and groaning at their taunts the whole way home.

Friday can’t come fast enough for Lance, and classes pass by _much_ slower than usual on Friday as the hour of the picnic slowly arrives. Allura picks him and Keith up from school, Pidge already bouncing in the passenger-side seat, a basket on their lap.

“I think I’m going to die,” Lance whispers as they pull up to the park and Pidge shifts around in their seat to put both their hands on Lance’s cheeks, smushing them together.

“Lance Santiago,” they say, looking intently at his face, “you are a wonderful, albeit dorky human being. You’re gonna knock him dead,” they say, before sharply patting both of his cheeks and getting out of the car.

“Aww, Pidge,” Lance whispers, tears welling in his eyes, “you _do_ care!”

Pidge flips him off over their shoulder, already walking towards the waiting Hunk.

The picnic goes great, of course- good food and good friends makes for a good time, in Lance’s opinion. Hunk brought fantastic little sandwiches, and the basket Allura packed was full of home-cooked food (some painfully reminiscent of Lance’s family) and a couple of ciders.

“Today was good,” Lance says decisively, his head in Allura’s lap, threading his fingers through Pidge’s hair.

“Yeah,” Hunk agrees, smiling at him. In a moment of bravery, Lance reaches out with his free hand and twines their fingers together- and Hunk’s face flushes dark red, but he doesn’t pull away.

Allura’s phone buzzes, and she fishes it out of her pocket, looking down at the message.

 **spaceboy:** hey, i should be able to meet you (!!!) and the boys next month. sound good?

 **spaceboy:** i, uh. have something i want to tell you.

A grin spreads wide across Allura’s face as she taps out her reply, ruffling Lance’s hair with her free hand.

 **allur(a)ing:** that sounds fantastic :)

The next Friday, Hunk and Lance go out on a date- dinner and then laser tag, much to Keith’s disappointment. (“Why won’t you go play laser tag with _me,_ Lance?”) Lance comes home laughing and a little red in the face, and he spends that night pressed in-between Keith and Allura, fast asleep.

“I haven’t seen him sleep this well in forever,” Allura whispers, and Keith nods, looking a little awe-struck.

“He looks like a baby kitten,” he says, and Allura ends up throwing herself off the bed and dashing out of the room so Lance won’t wake up with her laughter.

Hunk and Pidge work themselves into their lives just as easily as Keith had, with the five often ending up falling asleep together in heaping piles of tangled limbs (and hair, in Keith and Allura’s case).

Their lives become so busy that Allura almost doesn’t notice Lance’s unusual quietness, the forced nature of his jokes, the strange stiffness that occurs whenever Hunk’s name is mentioned. But Allura knows Lance as well as she knows herself, and she knows his tells better than anyone.

So she sends Keith to hang out with Pidge and Hunk for the day, promising she’ll text him when he can come home and ignoring his protests as she locks the door behind him. Lance is still sleeping, so Allura decides that obviously the best course of action is joining him.

She wakes up when he does, curled into his chest with his hand loosely dragging through her hair.

“Mornin, babe,” he greets, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “Where’s the gang?”

Allura yawns, and stretches, before setting back against the headboard. “I’ve sent them out for the day,” she says casually, and Lance raises an eyebrow. “We’re gonna have a chat, you and me,” she explains, and Lance’s reaction is so minimal that Allura thinks even Pidge would have missed it.

They end up lying opposite each other on the bed, like all those years ago- Allura’s hair spreads like liquid silver across their plain blue sheets, and Lance fiddles with his thumb as she hums absentmindedly.

“So, what’s goi-“ she starts, and she hasn’t even finished asking when Lance starts talking.

“It’s Hunk,” he says, and Allura stays quiet, content to just listen. “I mean, with you, I’ve always been just _drawn_ to you, and it was the same with Pidge and Keith. I _know_ that you’re supposed to be a part of my life, that we’re supposed to be together, and I can’t help but think that I might be leading Hunk on,” he explains, sighing. “What if our entire relationship is a sham because we’re not soulmates?” He asks, and the question hangs lead-heavy in the air as Allura mulls this over.

“You and me,” Allura says carefully, “are a very, very unusual case. I mean, other than the obvious,” she says, hushing Lance as he moves to interrupt. “We’re _backwards,_ Lance- we started out with soulmates and worked our way backwards to dating and then to best friends, and now we’re- well, we don’t really have a word for it, do we?” She laughs, and Lance snickers as well. “My point is, I don’t think that you and Hunk can’t date just because you’re not marked as soulmates- so many things could have happened to stop us from meeting, or to stop you and Pidge from figuring your sensations out, and Keith could have reacted a lot worse to your soulmark, but I think that we would have found each other anyways.

“No matter what universe we’re in, we’re gonna find each other, Lance,” Allura says, and she rolls over onto her stomach so she can look at him. “What if the universe wanted you to find Hunk, too?”

Lance sits up very abruptly, turning to face Allura, eyes wide.

“Babe,” he says very seriously, looking her in the eye, “have I told you how fantastic you are lately?”

“Probably,” Allura responds with a grin, “but I never _really_ get tired of hearing it. Now, I think you have a very handsome chef to go and talk to, don’t you?”

“You betcha, princess. I love you,” he offers, and Allura ruffles his hair.

“Love you too, Lance. Go get him!"

It takes Lance around and hour to find Hunk, and he feels like he must look a little crazy as he comes skittering to a stop in front of him (thank god for heelies).  
  
“Hunk,” he pants, looking up through his bangs at the larger man.

“Lance?” Hunk returns nervously, raising an eyebrow.

“I have something very very important to tell you,” Lance continues, and the next words get a little stuck in his throat as the situation starts to close in on him.

Hunk, bless his soul, diffuses the awkwardness like a pro. “You’re only dating me for my pancakes, aren’t you,” he says, and Lance bursts into clear, happy laughter.

“While they _did_ play a major role in why I asked you out one-on-one, I’m trying to tell you the opposite,” Lance grins, leaning up on his tiptoes so he’s eye-to-eye with Hunk. “I think I love you a little,” he says, and Hunk grins back, a blush rising in his cheeks.

“I love you a little too,” he says sagely, doing his best not to laugh.

He fails, and people stare a little at the absolute train wreck of laughter and affection that is Lance and Hunk, but Lance thinks he’s okay with it, because why _shouldn’t_ everyone see that he loves him?

(Hunk _knows_ he’s okay with it, because there’s no one he’d rather be a train wreck with.)

**v. fell in love on accident**

Lance was nervous. Today was the day that he’d be meeting Allura’s pen-pal and probable crush, and he really didn’t want to mess it up for her- and Lance had a really bad habit of messing things up. He was an awkward disaster, but today he was determined to be on his best behavior for Allura’s sake.

Allura had picked up Keith earlier (Lance had a late class and didn’t want them to wait) and Pidge and Hunk were making their way to the nice little Thai place across town, where Allura’s pen pal would be meeting them. Lance had rode his bike to school so he would have a way to get there without being picked up, and he rushed to get to his bike the moment his class let out. His fingers scrambled to undo his bike lock and secure his helmet before he got on his bike and began riding.

Of course, because Lance was determined to be good, everything went horribly wrong.

Around a block from the restaurant, Lance spotted a stranger who was looking down at his phone- and he was walking right into Lance’s path. Usually, this would not be a problem- Lance would brake and stop until the stranger was out of the way. Lance pulled the brakes of his bike, and absolutely nothing happened.

“Oh, fuck,” was all he could say before he impacted with the man.

The two tumble to the ground, Lance’s legs tangled with his bike. Lance could already feel the bruises from the fall forming as he pushed himself (and his bike) off of the other man, apologizing profusely. “Man, I am so sorry, are you okay?”

The other man pushed himself into a sitting position, checking that his phone was okay. “Yeah, don’t worry about it. Accidents happen and all that,” he replies, turning to look at Lance.

Their eyes meet, and the world seems like it’s imploding around Lance, and what he assumed were _colors_ began spreading out from the other man’s eyes, dizzyingly fast. The man stares down at Lance, jaw slack, and Lance could only assume he was experiencing the same thing- and the sensation of seeing color was _phenomenal_. Lance turned away from the man to look at the city around him, the city now lit up in bright shades he had never seen before.

“Wow,” the man whispers, and Lance can only nod in agreement, turning back to look at the other man. He starts, looking down at his phone and swearing, and Lance can see the time (in _color!_ ) on the screen, and he resists the urge to swear, as well. “I’m so sorry,” he starts, looking back up at Lance and taking his hand, “but Allura is gonna kill me if I don’t hurry, but I could give you my number if you want to talk?” the man offers, and then Lance _does_ curse.

“Shiro?” He says, and he’s kind of hoping that it’s _not_ him, just so he didn’t smash his bike into Allura’s pen pal.

Shiro turns to Lance and squints at him for a moment before realization dawns. “ _Lance_?”

“Oh man, Allura is going to _destroy_ me for hitting you with my bike! And for starting to see colors, probably, _ugh_ ,” Lance says, his face in his hands. Shiro laughs a little, standing up and offering a hand to Lance.

“This is probably one of those soulmate things Allura told me about, isn’t it?” He asks, and Lance nods, taking Shiro’s hand and standing.

“Yeah, sorry, freaky shit follows me around like it’s haunting me,” Lance says, and the two start walking the rest of the way to the restaurant. Lance is annoyed- the colors are a fantastic bonus, but this was _supposed_ to be Allura and Shiro’s night.

“I can’t say I’m mad,” Shiro says, looking down at Lance, “colors really are extraordinary”.

Allura is only a little mad that they’re late, and Shiro has to assure her at least four times that no, he’s not going to run off with Lance just because he can see colors now. The explanation is awkward and clunky, and Lance has trouble contributing because he’s too busy staring at his soulmates, seeing their colors for the first time. Allura _is_ absolutely livid that Lance had hit Shiro with his bike, which Pidge and Keith had teased him mercilessly for while Hunk patted his back sympathetically.

“I guess if Shiro’s okay, than it’s fine, but Lance, you have to stop meeting people through injuries,” Allura says, gesturing to Pidge, who puts their hand on their chest in mock surprise.

He and Shiro would need to talk, of course- but Lance was glad that Shiro wasn’t romantically interested. With the way Allura looked at him, it was obvious that she was _really_ into this guy, and from the way Shiro blushed and stammered, Lance was starting to think he felt the same. And he was okay with that- he had Keith and Hunk and Allura, and he and Pidge weren’t romantically involved either.

Lance’s _tiá_ had been right- he had stars waiting for him, and now he could see them the way they were truly meant to be seen- Pidge’s laughter-filled brown eyes behind their green rimmed glasses, Keith’s deep blue birthmark and warm red jacket, Hunk’s amber-colored eyes brilliant against his dark skin, the pale pink scar across Shiro’s nose and his multicolored hair, and Allura’s sparkling glacier blue eyes.

Looking around at these people, the family he had amassed over the years, Lance was happy and content- he had found his stars, and they had found him. He thinks back to that fateful day in the hallway, whirling around to see Allura standing across from him. He thinks about the first time he saw Keith’s soulmark, that day in the store, and he thinks about lunging forwards just a little too late to stop the fight with Pidge in the bar, and he thinks about meeting Hunk for the first time. They started out as strangers, but now Lance would cross galaxies just to see them smiling.

Now Allura is leaning against Shiro and laughing, and Shiro’s looking down at her with a wide smile on his face. Keith is holding Lance’s hand under the table and ruffling Pidge’s hair (which Lance can _feel_ , and that will _never_ not be weird), and Hunk’s got his arm around Lance’s shoulder, warm and comforting.

 _Yeah, these are my people,_ Lance thinks, smiling to himself. _Definitely my people_.

**Author's Note:**

> this is for my best friend eloise- i love you, you big goof. hope you enjoyed reading!


End file.
